Soul Eater: Sparks of Courage
by Skadow
Summary: "You know, a single spark of courage can inflame the fires of hope and restore peace across our beloved world." - Death the Kid.   Sequel to "Adrift On Savage Seas of Chaos and Wreckoning" and "Am I allowed to live? Madness within" - Skadow
1. Chapter 1

**Intro: Set 8 months after the devastating defeat of Shibusen against Medusa, Dais and the Kishins. **

**Disclaimer: Soul Eater and all original Soul Eater characters belong to Atsushi Ōkubo. The OCs belong to their respective owners. **

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Chapter 1: Bon appétit.

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A flowing dress made out of perpetually frozen ice, which was enhanced with witch magic so that it was extremely flexible. It also provided a kind of armor. Nila's trademark dress rested on a hanger in the bathroom.

Around her neck was still the silver chain that her mother once wore, with a pendant in the shape of a sparrow hanging from it. Also her orange-red hair remaind its shoulder-length. Her soft ice-colored eyes, sharp cheekbones, full lips and petite nose presented an interesting contrast to the whites and blues of her attire.

The warm water was streaming down her motionless body. Nila gazed at the wall, her eyes were blank and it seemed that she wasn't even noticing the water.

Kenji had slightly grown and now kept his dirt-brown hair rather short. Shrouded in a tattered, forest-green hoodie, the broad-shouldered boy with the handsome face turned 15 two months ago and always looked after his Meister and sister with his emotionless black eyes.

And now he stood in front of the kitchen table and prepared a mighty-fine soup for everyone.

Momo, the energetic ten year old with a twisted mind and manipulating skills hadn't lost her smile. She was always smiling, constantly calculating and plotting. Her red sundress had a little autumn leaf pattern around the hem now also bore a pitch black mojo at the right. The star shaped mojo was the last she had from Notiic and her story.

The mojo was furiously dangling as the young lady raced through the house.

Meko Mikune, the young, quiet and emotional witch girl with brown hair and her partner Damion Phillips had also travelled along. The sleeveless top she wore has a picture of a bunny on it, her signature animal.

Damion, the Demon Scythe and Weapon partner to Mikune has kept his laid-back and nonchalant personality, as he tried to act as cool as his cousin Soul Eater Evans. He wore black skinny jeans, and a midnight blue t-shirt. On both of his wrists were black bracelets with silver spikes. He had a single midnight blue streak, and a diamond studded ear ring in one ear.

The two were walking through the grassland and enyed the cool wind.

Lucian, the oldest of the group, still mourned after Notiic. The wizard's selfish and distant attitude only intensified through the loss of the one he truely respected, however there is a little spot for those around him. He kept his black silky hair long, and the black trench coat always rested in proximity of the mage.

Pale skin, dark brown hair, purple eyes and black nail polish in baggy black clothes. Draco looked like many. Most of the time he's fairly stoic, but when he lost his temper, it's more like a calm before the storm sort of feeling.

He collected weird things like voodoo dolls, mystic tomes, and any other weird or creepy thing he could find. He believed even the most ludicrous occult theories, but he had his moments where he's exactly right on. Despite his heritage and occult obsession he's never fallen under the 'Sway of Magic' though he's always been teetering on the edge.

Polite, quiet and shy. She often acted more like Draco's assistant than his partner. She constantly got annoyed with him, yet still loved him. She had a mischievous side, yet most of the time acted a little too uptight. Due to her shy personality she was often underestimated or over looked, yet was very skilled in her own right.

Suzumi brought a new definition to the word odd. She wore two black bat shaped clips on either side of her head, a tan plaid mini skirt, knee length white socks, red scarf tie, tan sweater vest, long sleeved white collared shirt with cuffs at the end of the sleeves and black shoes.

Another new duo that had joined the team consisted of Starr Musanote, a 15 year old female Meister with brown hair usually done in a braided bun. Starr had green eyes and found great joy in hearing music and reading books. And Strike, Starr's Weapon partner, who served her as a powerful Barbed Whip.

Rickter Corz, a 16 year old Meister who was even more laid back than Damion ever was, had also joined their ranks. The sarcastic boy was a realist, analyzer and his partner's placebo. Rickter went by what some would call "Smart but lazy".

About 5 feet 10 tall, Rickter has messy black hair and red eyes. He wore a dark green jacket over a black shirt, black jeans and converse. Overall, he looked and behaved like he has no personal hygiene. Zira Extolier, Rickter's Weapon partner, was a very prideful girl.

Expressive about her emotions, but was irritated very easily. She spoke out without thinking about her words before they came out of her mouth. When it matterd to being more nicer she may felt awkward and blurtted out something totally random as an excuse. She was a little socially awkward from her isolated past when in a large group.

However, compared to her partner Rickter, she was very responsible. She wore a white woolen sweater, black-red shorts, black socks and combat boots. She had white hair that's long on her left side and short on her end strands of her hair are black from what happened in her childhood. She's 5 foot 3 tall and her skin was only a little pale from lack of sunlight when she was younger.

And last but not least, Chaos Organize. She's a Pre-Kishin who was on the verge of succeeding Asura as much as Nila did. The 13 year old girl was a mix between happy-go-lucky and incredibly random. Justin Law's niece and also an autonomous Weapon, she followed somewhat in the footsteps of Justin.

Chaos wore a white tank top, red combat pants, red head phones, has waist length white hair, blood red eyes, a slender body with slight curves and a lightly tanned skin. Although she looked like an albino, she was not.

They are all that was left from Shinigami's beloved Shibusen. Thanks to Notiic T. Skarachi's piteous sacrifice, they could live. The team had established a new home at an abandoned hut in New Zealand.

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"Hey Chaos." asked Momo whilst she jumped into the room.

"nnnnnnnnnnnwwwwwhuat?"

"Dinner is done!" Momo's smile widened even more.

Chaos sighed and unplugged her earphones, the music became hearable. "Okay, give me a min."

"Yup yup yup yup yup!" cheered the young girl and stormed out of the room again.

Momo took a sharp turn and rushed into the room next door. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicki! Ziiiiiiiiiiira!"

"What? What is it?" Zira's angry voice didn't scare Momo but instead made her chuckle.

"Wake up~~~ It's dinner!"

Deep and loud groaning spawned from Rickter's corner.

Zira instantly knew that they will be late for dinner. "Y-yeah okay thanks Momo. I'll have to wake Rickter up first."

Momo hastily nodded and bolted off into the next room.

"Hey Suzumi!" yelled Momo through the entire hallway as she spotted her at the other side of the floor.

"Hey~ ... " grumbled Suzumi. "How can Momo already be such a pain in the ass?"

Eventually Momo sneaked into Draco's and Suzumi's room. The latter didn't bother to wake her Meister up, but that's what Momo is here for.

Slowly she leaned closer to the still sleeping Draco. When she was close enough to hear him peacefully breathe, Momo intercepted his mojo-atmosphere.

"Hey Draco."

"hmpf?"

"It's dinner."

"hmpf."

"No really, food."

"hmpf?"

"Seriously."

"hmpf."

"I'll go ahead and drink your soda."

"Die."

"Coming?"

"Give me a minute you devil."

Momo began to chuckle once more and walked off. Annoyed and finally awake, Draco turned and saw how Momo waltzed out of the room.

In the kitchen stood Lucian and Kenji, eagerly preparing dinner for all the hungry souls. Fortunately the untouched hut offered everything the team needed.

"Where are Nila, Mikune, Momo and Damion?" queried Lucian as he overlooked Kenji's soup-in-the-making.

Kenji lifted his head from the pot and looked at Lucian, thinking. "Momo is rallying the horde. Nila is in the bathroom and Mikune and Damion are outside shooting the breeze. ... I think."

Raising an eyebrow Lucian shook his head. "Children."

"At least their taste in fashion isn't as scary as yours, Lucian."

Lucian snorted and took a seat. "And your fashion is the wrong way round." he commented.

"What?" Kenji turned and eyed Lucian with utter surprise. The mage pointed at Kenji's pants.

When the Weapon looked down, he realized that his pants were the wrong way round.

"What a fashion." laughed Lucian. Kenji, slightly blushing, admitted defeat and signalized that he's back in a minute or two.

After three more minutes, the "horde" was assembled at a well-laid table.

"Bon appétit!"

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Later that day, Zira and Rickter were sitting on a self-made bench in the meadows. There had been nothing but tranquillity in the air, so it was nice to relax. They all had become really good friends in the last four months.

And since Kenji's birthday two months ago and a rather humorous little celebration that followed, the newer members had time to properly become integrated. Sometimes Lucian and Kenji took Zira and Suzumi with them for search for food and the four became the cooks of the gang.

Nila and Chaos got along pretty well as both shared a strong connection to insanity and its influence. Draco frequently found entertainment in observing Zira's methods to wake a sleeping Rickster.

Momo gained the position of the annoying little sister who never shuts up. Mikune and Damion enjoyed a rather neutral position and as such, always ended up being the rope in the tug o' war-like altercation. Lucian was always delighted in watching the quarrelling. All in all they turned into an unique family.

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**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Bilious green.**

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The door creaked open after the most cursory of knocks, sending chimes to clack woodenly together and letting the breeze whisper through the warmed interior. Rickter, who sat on a chair in the kitchen, looked up from an old and dusty book. In the doorway, a tall woman dressed in dark colors held a plant in a pot made from glimmering hands.

After a moment's cessation of heart and breath he recognized the truth behind the macabre first impression: they weren't corpse hands sewn together, but witchcraft, spawned from her palm to cup the soil.

And that was the only reason it had taken him so long to pay attention to the plant itself. The old book hit the floor and dust swayed through the air. His hands began to tremble and he could barely frame words. "Y-you, that, this. Here?"

Rickter got a better hold of himself. "Curses! Get out of here! Take it away!" He reached for anything that might make a weapon. The woman watched through desperate eyes as he held the shears wide.

"Aiaiaiaiaiiaia, don't get to too close!" yelled the boy. Suddenly a fist smashed into Rickter's face, forcing the Meister to the ground.

"Damnit Rick! Stop being such a creepy asswipe!" Zira shouted furiously.

"I-I need your help, please!" begged the woman, still standing in the door. "It's dormant. I don't know why..." She continued without giving Zira time to comprehend the first sentence.

"Uh ... Hi! My name is Zira." Extolier had to improvise.

"That's a dangerous treasure." stated Lucian whilst leaning against a wall. His gaze was as dark as midnight yet his voice was calm.

Zira turned her head and looked at Lucian with confusion that was clearly written on her.

The awkward situation and Rickter's sudden outcry soon elicited the attention of the entire gang and eventually everyone gathered in the hallway.

Nila scratched her head. "It's just a damn plant." The woman, introduced mysteriously and haltingly as Sinn, still held the plant with her spell.

"It's a daemon!" Draco immediately incited drama and tension as he flailed across the kitchen room with the shears in his right hand.

"It seems to be in a dormant-state. I'm not sure why. But it would probably defend itself if attacked. And I doubt you want us to kill them." Rickter's words crawled into Sinn's ears and she responded with a very facilitated smile.

"K-kill who?" Mikune's eyes widened. Draco's panic was replaced by zeal and he released the shears. The shears struck the floor, chipping the grimy tiles. He patted at his abdomen wildly. "W-where! W-what!"

"So ... would you be so kind and explain?" Starr looked at Rickter with a gentle smile and Rickter realized that what he just said made absolutely no sense to all of them except Sinn.

"My friends," Sinn responded with a steady voice. "This flower ate my friends. I need you to help me save them."

"Do you know what you're asking?" Lucian's calm voice was now tainted with discomfort and disdain.

Momo and Kenji, who were silently observing, looked at Lucian with resentment drumming in their bodies.

Chaos walked up to the table and accidentally bumped it. The object leaped and the group stared with held breath at the mysterious plant, now re-housed in an earthen pot, but it hasn't been tipped and didn't stir.

"S-sorry." cackled the clumsy Weapon.

"This... this is an organism so rare that most of the time they don't exist, sometimes for generations! They'll take over an entire island, clear it of prey - and by prey, understand that I mean life. No life - no food – no nothing!" Rickter's tone was deep and dead-serious.

"They're only ever encountered when an old seed washes up on inhabited shores, and once it takes root, there's no stopping it." Chaos and Nila exchanged surprised glances before they looked at Rickter again.

"Ah." exclaimed Lucian, flicking his fingers. "Disturbati autumnale. They say that a government team once picked up a specimen intact, but their findings were shrouded in secrecy."

"Then let us call the government!" suggested Strike, putting his oar in. Zira and Starr facepalmed simultaneously. "What?" asked Strike.

Zira frowned. "Got a number?"

"Oh..." Starr clapped Strike's shoulder as the latter slowly lowered his head in defeat.

"This is the second disturbati plant species by now." muttered Lucian. He looked at the inconspicuous plant whilst rubbing his chin.

Draco and Rickter swallowed the wrong way. "What?" expectorated Draco. For one person to cross paths with two of the most dangerous species in existence in a single lifetime, they couldn't believe that this pessimist had so much luck in his past.

Rickter gazed back at Sinn. "Where did you find this one?" The addressed woman took a deep breath. "A cove, on the far side of this island. We found shriveled corpses, adults and children alike, an empty village."

"Ewww..." Suzumi writhed with disgust. "We wanted to put a stop to whoever or whatever was responsible... and..." Sinn explained and then paused.

"At the last moment, I pulled myself from its grasp." As Sinn rubbed her left arm and sunk into deep thoughts, it became obvious that the woman was still a bit unhinged.

"The rest were not so lucky." She added.

"A piece appears to be missing." Kenji pointed out. The entire group asked with one voice. "What?"

Lucian chuckled. "Such an organism would inevitably spell the island's eventual doom no matter where it lay within its shores. And now we figured that a piece is missing, how amusing."

"How did you escape?" rasped Starr.

Sinn shook her head. "I'm afraid my prior experience offers no clues. I... remain uncertain what precisely even happened."

"And this time, there appears to be no symbiosis with a human who might be dispatched." Damion shivered at the way Rickter spoke of that murder in such unmoved terms.

"We must find another way." yapped Sinn with big eyes.

"So we are botanists now?" Chaos' acidness made Nila laugh.

"We have to investigate the cove." exclaimed Kenji as he clenched his fist.

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Rickter made a point of examining every millimetre of the plant under a magnifier, squinting through the lens, sketching the shape of veins and cells in leaves with his free hand, holding the pencil in uncooperative joints that crackled and seized up. The light filtered down onto the desk through the grimy glass.

There was barely enough light in the basement for their studies on the plant but they were unable to move the heavy furniture, thus Rickter was glued to this dark hole. Soon, he had no choice but to extemporize. Draco ventured up a ladder to the plafond and cellotaped multiple lights ceiling-proof.

Nila Mizushima, obviously bored, wandered about in a manner Rickter found distracting, ducking beneath the old branches and dangling vines of the department's overgrown wilderness, unworriedly brushing spiders from the exposed skin of her arms, crouching low and peeling back fronds to reveal the informational labels.

As if it was group pressure, Momo and Mikune quickly joined Nila and the next time Rickter looked up, he spotted the trio as it traveled through the aged basement. Draco scowled and forced Rickter's eyes back down. They had, after all, an opportunity before them that may only previously have been presented to a select handful of government scientists. May only, or may not at all.

Draco had always craved a greater claim than just believing in even the most ludicrous occult theories. He and Rickter were eager to make notations and observations, even if it'd kill them ... well.

Sinn was right, however. All was not well with the flower. Its reactions now are almost nonexistent, and it seemed hardly like a sentient thing. Rickter wiped sweat from his forehead and wondered, who were these friends of hers, and what had they done to reduce the terrifying entity of legend to this near-catatonic state?

Obviously he dared not cut into the plant, nor did Draco, instead they took samples from brushing the surface of the petals, leaves and stem. Soon Lucian joined the duo in order to gain more knowledge about the herbage of death.

A short, academic debate was soon aroused which in this case was all synonymous with speculation. Whether the second, larger part of the flower was a construct of the disturbati abilities of the smaller plant or the other way around, or indeed if both were equally real... or, bizarrely, if both were equally unreal.

The girl trio wandered across Draco's peripheral view, aiming for the other side of his 'occulti collection', the more densely-packed jungle behind their desk. His temper finally snapped. "Flipping touch something wrong and I'll personally send you all to hell! Try and be useful instead. Help the others who went off to the cove." He pointed to the door.

Nila grunted and followed his finger, then curiously looked upstairs before gazing at her own hands and arms, her skin stained the colour of gray dust and dirt. Mikune and Momo silently dangled after Nila.

It was much easier to concentrate with their absent but for the faint noise of squeaking steps from the stairs. Rickter finished taking his samples and stared intently at the yellow petals, convinced that their movement was starting to look more lively then.

Lucian muttered something opaque before he too went to the stairs. Draco set the machines to work analyzing the chemical content. Fortunately Suzumi and he brought some laboratory apparatus with them. Although they were actually used to produce liquids which Draco used in his rituals, the equipment now found new use.

"All we can do now is wait." exclaimed Rickter before he gave a long yawn. At some remote period, a noise alerted the duo and they finally returned to the basement, thus they enquired the results.

Draco looked at the hideous amount of numbers and was visibly surprised. "Numbers … numbers … oh and more numbers." nagged Draco. Rickter scrutinized the paper and after a short while, his jaw dropped.

As Corz's jaw dropped, Draco raised an eyebrow and took a closer look. He queried with surprise. "What is it?" Rickter only shook his head. "Um … Rickter?" Draco cleared his throat.

"What have you found?" Draco's expression tightened mid-speech, and before Rickter could stop him he rushed to the pot on the desk, fingers clutching its sides and claiming their muddy stains in an instant. Draco's chin jerked up. "They've been in there too long. Their souls grow weak tell me, Rickter, what did you figure out? We have a chemical breakdown, so name a substance we can use to weaken the plant further."

"And release whatever is stored within? Any of your myths that might force it to give up sound more logical." Lucian returned to the basement and promptly launched a caustic remark. Draco and Rickter threw puzzled glances at the pessimistic mage.

"It strikes me that you seem little concerned for the larger picture, Draco. Inside the flower, are her 'friends' who have been keeping it outwardly dormant. Once they fail, the rest of the island would be in its path."

Draco tore off the punched sheet of results from the clicking and whirring machines. "Get to the point you old Hag." Lucian slowly waltzed towards him. "However, there is no one else on the island except us. So who is in its path?" Rickter's eyes widened. "A trap?"

The mage chuckled. He scratched his chin with his fingers, and pointed with a crooked finger at them. "Now that we know what the plant is up to, you can surely figure who is the only potential candidate for the symbiosis."

Draco lost his train of thought and silently observed Rickter and Lucian. "Sinn … ?" Rickter smashed his clenched fist onto the table and Lucian began to laugh. Eventually Draco got in with Lucian's hints. "She's the only one who had contact with the disturbati. She's the only one who wants to open this plant."

"She's associated in symbiosis and is leading Chaos, Suzumi and the others directly into the core!" yelled Rickter before Draco could infer. "Get Starr and Strike. We have to find them!"

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**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Institution of unknown education.**

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Years ago, Wreckoning god Dais and Kishin Veijka engaged a fierce and savage battle which resulted in the tragic fissuring of Madagascar. It should be noted that only one year after Madagascar's destruction, the two gods negotiated a truce.

The cruel heritage of their battle was daunting and breathtaking unanimously. Madagascar was divided into three new, smaller islands. Each of them measured about one third of the original Madagascar as the great fissuring spawned around the centre of the island. From the countless chasms and splits that ruptured the ground, the three largest pierced through dirt and stone until they ended in the water.

The first chasm tore its way along the east and literally consumed the steep escarpments which lead from the Central Highlands down into a ribbon of rain forest with a narrow coastal further east. Now, the Canal des Pangalanes, a chain of natural and man-made lakes connected by canals that ran parallel to the east coast and wound through about two-thirds of the island, are entirely dried out and had turned into empty trenches.

The easterly Island was now known as "Desertascar", a compound of the word desert since the island was nothing more than a desert landscape and Madagascar, where it originally belonged to. All three island names originated from that idea.

Desertascar was formed by the first and second chasm which unleashed tremendous power with earthquake-like fissuring thus raised the island several hundred meters into the air. The descent from the central highlands toward the west was more gradual, with remnants of deciduous forest and savanna-like plains. The second rift followed along the descent and also opened into the sea.

The central highlands were characterized by terraced, rice-growing valleys lying between barren hills. Here, the red laterite soil that covered much of the island had been exposed by erosion, showing clearly why the country is often referred to as the "Red Island". The island's highest peak, Maromokotro, at 2,876 metres , was found in the Tsaratanana Massif, located in the far north of the country.

Maromokotro itself was the only remaining memento from the original island. The northwestern Island, "Fenascar", had little left of its former glory. It was the largest island and turned into a gargantuan swamp because of the massive flooding.

The great contrast between Desertascar and Fenascar originated from the island-raising incident. While Desertascar was being raised, fed with the ground and bottom of Fenascar, the latter, logically, began to sink. Seawater flooded streams, rivers and lakes, drowned the vegetation and pulled countless animals into the depths of the deep blue sea.

Lastly to be named is the southern island, being the only one with a decent ecology for new settlements and enough flora-fauna capability. Since then, "New Madagascar" had been Notiic's training grounds and now the new home of Nila, Lucian, Draco and their friends.

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They left the shady, glass-paned architecture of the botanical-basement section behind and journeyed across the large meadows of the island. Soon they found the valley that led directly to the cove where the herbage of death had left its trails.

Chaos Organize, Zira Extolier, Suzumi, Kenji and Damion followed Sinn through the stone-corridors of the vast dale. Moss covered rocks, gaping chasms and no end in sight gave this valley such a frustrating atmosphere. "I'd rather sit in the kitchen and eat my toast." bickered Zira with a sharp voice.

Chaos laughed. "Then turn around and do us all a favor!"

"Shut up Organize!"

"Just cease your bickering, I can't think with your voice louder than my thoughts."

"Why don't you make a U-turn and go home, ALONE?"

"Watch it you-." Suzumi couldn't bear the sweat drop any longer. "Hey you two, calm down." Damion and Kenji didn't bother to intervene and kept on marching behind Sinn. "Aren't those two demon Weapons?" queried Sinn whilst carefully eyeing Chaos. Kenji looked at Damion, then back to the three girls and finally gazed at Sinn. "We all … are." He muttered.

"Oh-oh. Oooh. Okay!" Sinn nervously laughed. Damion leaned closer to Kenji when Sinn shifted her eyes back towards the direction they walked. "Isn't she acting a bit strange?" queried the young boy.

"Eh? What do you mean?" whispered Kenji back. "It's just … well. She asked you that for the third time now. And I got the feeling that we are walking in circles." Damion's breathy voice barely reached Kenji's ears, but the Weapon could very well imagine his problems given the fact that Sinn in fact behaved in a very strange way.

"I think we are almost there. Are you all prepared and ready?" asked Sinn with a rather excited tone. "Prepared …?" Suzumi shook her had in disapproval. Chaos halted. "Ready and prepared for what?" Sinn's expression changed from happy to utterly terrified. "I-I mean, are you poised to attack?"

Extolier stomped the ground with her boots and began to roar. "We'll kick that piece of ass so hard in the grass! Err… I mean-" Chaos burst into laughter. Suzumi began to chuckle and Kenji only rolled his eyes when Zira was as red as a tomato.

"You think too much about Rickter, get your hormones under control." squeezed Chaos out before laughing tears, again. "WHY YOU!" shouted Zira and she charged at Organize. The latter turned her arm into a long, bloodied blade and deflected Zira's foot that also morphed into a hideous blade form.

"Oioioioioioioi …." chuckled Kenji. The entire group halted because of Zira's and Chaos' "little" outrage and observed how the two girls furiously clashed. "I love how you just can't take a joke or two." commented Organize. "Shut your hole or I will do it for you!" snarled Zira back and promptly launched another leg-based attack.

With every clash of their Demonpowers, the entire dale began to tremble and quake as the chasms massively magnified the echo of the impacts. Damion watched how a pile of rocks next to him began to shiver and jump before the heap collapsed.

"Umm… I think we should put an end to their quarreling. This place is falling apart!" exclaimed Damion as he shook Kenji's shoulder. Kenji turned and when he looked up to the stony walls, he felt an ice cold shiver running down his spine.

The rocks and stones from the very top were coming down, multiple chasms yawned and they were in the thick of it. "Holy crap! RUN!" Zira and Chaos, now forcefully pressing their foreheads against each other, ceased their hostilities and looked at the others who were running their hearts out.

Immediately joining that trend, the angry duo soon caught up with the rest and the group dashed through a dale that was breaking into fragments and pieces. Massive chunks of rubble hawked down into the depths and the group managed a hairbreadth escape.

They kept running for at least five minutes. Kenji dived into the undergrowth which dwelt at the end of the road. With the dale collapsing in itself, the group didn't hesitate and followed the boy into the thickness of green.

Piercing through the thicket, branches and brushwood relentlessly slapped into their faces. Fortunately the painful Odyssey didn't last long, yet even after they left the undergrowth behind them they kept running.

The dry stomps of their feet soon ceased and where replaced by sound and clear noises as if they were running through a hallway. At some point, Damion and Kenji halted. No one was injured, only pumped out and loaded with so much adrenaline that each and every one of them could hear their hearts pounding in their ribcages. "Is every one okay? *pant* *pant* Are we still alive?" coughed Zira as she kneed in a state of exhaustion.

Damion and Suzumi sat on a bench, the sweat dripped off their foreheads. "Effing … what was THAT for?" panted and gasped Kenji. "Them rocks everywhere …" muttered Zira, her legs were still shaking. "Sinn are you alright?"

Every one paused.

" … "

Damion looked up and tried to detect Sinn. "Eeuhm … S-Sinn?"

Also ceasing her panting, Zira failed to trace her, too. "Sinn?"

"Sinn." muttered Suzumi as she let her head fall back.

Furiously shaking his head, Kenji asked. „Where is Sinn?"

„Wwwhhmmmo? OOH FINN!" Chaos lay on the ground, her face pressed against the flagged floor. Her muffled voice was hardly hearable.

„Oh god …. " The group soon realized that Sinn was indeed missing.

"Okay, relax. She was in front of me, she'll be alright!" exclaimed Kenji when the others begin to whimper and whine.

"Woah … where are we?"

* * *

What?

* * *

Damion's simple question caught them all off-guard. Sinn was missing, and they stood in what seemed like a university building. "Who … what … how did … sodding …" Zira couldn't put her surprise into words.

The corridor was packed with empty lockers. They were all torn open and loose, semi-mouldy papers lay all across the location. The windows that shed some light were filthy dirty, had cracks spread across them and some were bashed in.

Kenji scratched his head. "When … did we?" Suzumi stood up and picked up one of the many papers, the sheet of paper slightly disaggregated with the touch. Slightly surprised with the horrible condition of the slip, Suzumi muttered as she tried to read it. "Woah … 1987."

Zira thought aloud. "1987 … 13 … 2000 … plus 10 … 2010 …"

Damion shook his head. "The year is 2025, Zira. 1st of October."

Soon the group rallied and began their search for Sinn, who was still missing. The mysterious and somewhat creepy building with its large, empty halls and rooms were the perfect place of concealment. "She could be like everywhere?" moaned Chaos who dangled behind Damion.

"Then we'll just search everywhere." responded Suzumi with a rather neutral tone. She didn't even bother with Chaos' grumbling and nagging noises that served as an answer.

They walked into a paleontology department. Fossils and bones caged in vitrines that spread across the entire department. Into the library, yelling through the empty book corridors and across the stone paved courtyard where the fountain trickled in endless rhythm.

"Bah! We're looking for a needle in a haystack, seriously!" Zira stomped the ground angrily and halted. Every one immediately turned and gazed at the angry girl.

Kenji's wistful expression changed as he looked back at the shadows of vegetation behind the grimy glass of the library they just left. He dragged his eyes forward again and stared at the astronomy observation tower that seemingly dominated the facility, pointing up towards the daylight-obscured stars.

Zira made eyes at the impressive structure. "Wow…" They nodded in unison.

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**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Some bloke?**

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The tower was huge. An enormous and a formidable construct of man! "Where … is the … top?" Zira's head rolled back as she tried to find the peak. "Damnit!" They walked towards the structure, vast and shining in its wake. As if the clouds had assembled themselves around it to shroud it in shade and dark, the black atmosphere finally gained the group's attention.

"What time is it?" queried Damion as he jerked his head up. Zira shrugged and Chaos muttered a "derp.". "It's so damn dark, let's get inside. I feel ... like ... being watched." Kenji stroked his left arm, obviously showing his distress. "When the sun comes down ..." Suzumi reached her hand out and promptly felt the first rain drops. "When the rain wash away ..." Her chanting soon carried Zira and Chaos along. "All the hopes I can bring, to another day, another day. When trees start to sway and the wind makes them move." The entry door wasn't locked, and the large, rather empty room was filled with countless candles. Their steps were wet and heavy, the clothes drenched in cold rain. "Strange place ..." breathed Zira. "Do you hear that?" Kenji looked back at the door that closed with noise and sound. "What?" Damion scratched his head. "This is not cool ..."

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Meanwhile at the top, sirens wailed and Donk almost fell down the few metal steps into the engine room in his hurry to reach the stricken machine. Red light bathed the room and strobed over the brass and steel in steady flashes. Donk ran to the pressure gadgets, watching the little black needle tap against the edge as it fought to read numbers that didn't exist.

Punching buttons, the mechanic tried to release the steam feeds but the lights on the control board just winked at him in frantic red and green. He ducked under a bunch of rattling brass banded pipes and fought his way around to the main engine compartment. He swore as boiling water dripped down from the ceiling, but the scald scars would only join the collection that already littered his hands and upper arms.

Steam filled the small compartment making it as hot and clammy as a sauna. Water clung to his short black hair and stuck his pullover to his back like a second skin. Blinking water out of his eyes he ran his hands lightly over the hot pipes, tracing the coolant leads as a glowing blue schematic of the tower's engine flickered to life behind his eyes, scrolling information on his retina and into his brain. Not that he really needed it; his fingers hovered over the metal following a path they knew by heart as well as by cortical searing.

The corrugated silver and bronze pipes shone in the red light, water condensing and then coiling off again as steam in a matter of seconds. A high pitched whistle slowly grew in volume like a kettle on a stove. The noise filled Donk's ears and his heart did a somersault against his ribs. If he didn't find a way to vent the pressure the engine would go into critical overload and Solaris' pride wouldn't scratch the sky for much longer. Squeezing past a bank of regulators he reached the primary combustion drive, the rotor spinning at an uncontrollable speed, its gears clicking against each other like a manic clock.

It looked like a massive spinning top laid on its side, both ends held in place by a long thick pole that ran the length of the room. Heaving in lungfuls of heated air, Donk wiped his sweaty hands on his blue coveralls and tried to think. If he severed the pipes then the whole lower body would be flooded with boiling water. If he didn't the rotor would detach and the upper half of the tower would be ripped apart by flying metal and rivets. Either way he didn't plan on going out that way.

An image of Sinn flickered over his eyes as his memory coils whirled through possible solutions. He would not die without seeing her again and he'd fight Dais' savage embrace with everything he had to keep it that way. Bringing his attention back to the present situation a balance tube exploded on his right, the little red ball that floated in it zipping past his head with enough force to punch through the outer hull.

"Sodding-!" he cursed, watching steam fly towards the hole and be sucked out in a swirling funnel of atmo breach. An idea flared to life in his mind and he wouldn't have been surprised if a lector bulb didn't appear over his head. Flipping the stream release switch he ran back to the outer compartment, his legs heavy and the soles of his boots tacky as they started to melt into the metal deck. Slamming the outer door, he shook his soaked hair and stared at the release lever.

If he didn't get the emergency doors closed in time after he vented the steam he'd freeze to death in the void. "And to think I said this job would be a piece of pie." Solaris' Pride groaned like a wounded leviathan and the level tilted sharply, spilling Donk to his knees. He grabbed a railing to stop himself from sliding into a wall and hauled himself to his feet as he felt the tower complaining to him through the neural interface at the base of his skull. She didn't want to die and she had one hell of a bellyache.

"Alright, alright old girl, I'm working on it." He muttered to the collection of bolts and steel plating that housed his second love. The storey dipped as the tower began to shake and Donk's stomach seemed to drop to the floor and bounce back again. Grabbing the lever he leant on it, his melted boots sliding as he tried to move it. He strained, his forearms bulging with the effort but it wouldn't move. Spouting expletives even his father would be ashamed of Donk stepped back and kicked the lever. It wobbled and twitched under his onslaught but remained stubbornly upright. He kicked it again, panic rising up his throat in a scalding wave even as the steam that was filling the room with a white fog tried to crawl down it.

"Why?Won't!You? Move?" he yelled, each word punctuated by a strike that vibrated up his leg. Angrily he booted the metal and with a screech of protest it snapped against the deck, releasing the doors. The void opened up before him and tried to swallow him greedily. Steam whipped out with a howl, white going out to meet the blackness of ozone. Donk held onto the lever, the wind from the escaping atmosphere tugging at his clothes and freezing the water and sweat to his body.

After a few moments the red flashing stopped and the normal lector lights flickered to life. Pulling back, he braced his legs against the levers base and wrenched it back in place, the rusted emergency doors sliding closed with an echoing clang. Gasping, Donk lay on his back as oxygen flooded back into the engine room. He brushed a hand over his face and rubbed the ice out of his eyebrows, his coveralls equally covered in tiny sparkling ice crystals. Muscles protesting he rolled to his knees and slammed his hand down on a large black button. The rotating gears instantly slowed, hissing and moaning as they spun down into stillness. The back-up engine would sustain life support and the lights until he could figure out what had gone wrong with the main. He leant against the panel and sighed into the dials and switches.

"Piece of cake." -

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The tower ceased to shake and but Suzumi's crying did not. "DAMNIT SU IT'S OVER SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" screamed Kenji with all of his voice against Suzumi's high pitched opera. She halted, panting and tears filling her eyes. "I- I. I'm sorry. It's just, I ...-" Suzumi hesitated. "Chill out Su ... we all thought this thing would collapse." Chaos' cheer didn't help a lot, but it was better than Zira's malevolent stare and Damion's traumatized gaze.

Chaos developed a crease between her eyes, and they continued to walk, she a few steps behind Kenji who was leading the group upwards, he on legs that quivered with the strain of angst, and quivered all the more once they started to tackle the steps to the upper floors of Solaris' Pride.

"Here, we should take a rest and get dry. I see a heater over there." Kenji pointed at a small grey box with rills and strange screws caging it. "This entire tower seems more like a flying ship." Zira looked at the walls and everywhere were pipes, decorations made out of copper and steel. The entire room was built like a ship's rib in fact.

Damion yawned loudly and stretched his body with a vengeance. "D'awwwwwww whatever, I need a break. Breaks are cool." Kenji sighed. "This 'trip' has turned into a real disaster." "I don't think we'll find Sinn in here ..." added Chaos as she pulled an empty, dark purple chalice from under her clothing. "What are you doing?" Zira looked at Chaos, carefully cocking her head.

"I didn't have the chance to get rid of my excess yet. So I'm doing it now." Chaos' unfazed expression remained as she cut her wrist and released the crimson liquid. It streamed down her hand, into the palm and along her fingers, slowly filling even the smallest ditch in her skin. Eventually it quietly dripped into the case, drop for drop quietly splashed into the red sea.

"Oh Chaos please, don't make a show out of it. That's not cool." Damion snorted loudly, watching Chaos in the process. "Help yourself." her dark voice killed the atmosphere. In the end the group gathered around the little copper heater, quiet, silent, no noise, no sound, no nothing. Just the pipes guiding hot steam through their innards, the wind blowing against the structure and the rain drops crashing against the ribs and stones.

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**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**

PS: Wow I'm so late on this, I try really hard to update once per week. But hell, work is a pain the a... you know where. Oh well, better now than never! R&R


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Roots.**

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Damion watched her, in the corner of his eye. She dwelt a few steps behind, and payed no attention to any of them. She only stared down at the chalice below her hands. The container emitted a petty echo from within, it was steadily getting louder, and the group became more alert with every passing moment, every falling drop. Inside the chalice, Chaos's blood was gathered. The Pre-Kishin's blood, a red, ruby fluid of life and power tainted with the chaotic powers of madness.

They were running out of time, and once the digestion process begins in truth, there won't be any chance left to save them. The bilious green plant, Disturbati autumnale, was still out there somewhere, probably devouring victims in this very moment of silence. "Sinn," Kenji whispered, his knuckles so white that his clenched fists resembled nothing more than ceramic to crack. "Don't give in, not yet." Instead, he hears human anguish as Suzumi's voice broke.

Her hand clutched the chalice against her side while her other tore at Zira's shoulders, thrusting her back against the room's pipe wall, her feet tripping on the broad carpet. "What are we going to do now?" Chaos gives her no time to answer. "I feel like a sitting duck who trapped itself after the canyon collapsed. Let's get moving!" "Wait, what? YOU were the one who caused us this misery, don't get bossy now!" Damion angrily hissed back and grabbed Chaos' hand, freeing Zira's shoulder in the process. The latter grunted and pushed Chaos further away. "No!" Chaos cried as the chalice hit the ground.

The gathered blood rushed over the floor, tainting the carpet with a deep red colour as it is being soaked it. "Hey!" yelled Chaos. "Damnit, keep it together you all!" Kenji shouted furiously and grabbed Zira's raised fist before it could cause any further harm. "Don't start to friggin' fight now."

Zira slapped Kenji's hand away and punctured him with a hate-filled stare. "She's the one who started!" She lunged into a run, forwards and upwards, her legs easily covering the ground. "Zira wait!" Suzumi almost tripped as she pursued the angry girl upstairs. Damion followed with a loud frown and Kenji, snarling at Chaos for her irrational behavior followed next.

Being the last in the room of steampunk, Chaos collected her chalice and placed it back into its clasp before also engaging a sprint upwards. "I'm sick of this running already!" panted Damion. "Just keep following her, we can't just let her run into something." Suzumi's deeply concerned voice barely reached Damion's ears. They ran, fast, and with every step their legs ached more. "Zira! For the sake of sanity halt!"

Footsteps, many of them and they were getting louder too. Donk lifted his head and looked at the door he came crashing through a few minutes back when the engine clamored. Still drenched in water and covered with pain and scars, Donk stood up and walked towards the source of the noise.

"Is that ... ?" His mind drew a picture of Sinn and their friends, happily running the stairs up as they always did back in the days.

"I'm doing this alone if you all just sit there and argue!" Zira shouted, her stare fixed upon the next step of the stair to claim. "Just listen to yourself, you're not making sense Zira!" Donk halted and took a step back. That's not Sinn, someone else managed to get into the tower without Donk noticing. They must've infiltrated when he was busy taming the roaring machinery. Sneaky bastards!

Bandits? Or some Rikishin. Or even worse, immortals? Or the worst case, the Disturbati autumnale managed to break loose? "F'ing! Motherless son of a goat!" Donk raged. He reached for a large iron hammer that was placed in a crate along with other tools. His thoughts travel back to the day when they found that little ... thing.

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"A damn plant ..." The little green thing, a seed was it not? Sinn giggled, how cute it looked. "Maybe it's a rare type of flower and when we take care of it, it will turn into a really beautiful and graceful rose!" Donk roared and tears filled his eyes. "You're a silly dreamer!"

They planted it, they nursed it, they cared for it. And in return, a Disturbati autumnale came into existence. An ancient weapon that dates back to the days Sanzu's time, Shinigami-sama's and Dais' father. Viscous individuals abandoned their families and their existence to serve in the name of witches and the damned hordes of immortals also rose to fame and power. Able to cripple humanity and level all hope, this chaos was instructed by a group of warlocks, believing they are the saints of life and death.

However, the guardian of law and order, Sanzu, proved to be superior. With the aid of his sons, Dais and Death, Sanzu subdued their adversaries and restored peace. But the witches would not give up that easily and countered with new measures of warfare. That plant, that bilious green thing, was an artificial tool of mass destruction. Able to purge island after island, the witches unleashed a brutal campaign in order to topple Shinigami's order once again.

A strange twist of fate occurred, however. The Disturbati, it was not willing to let itself be controlled by them. Soon, entire hideouts of witches and mages were purged and the remaining warlocks abandoned their own creation. They hoped it would face oblivion, but one of their terrible toys resurfaced just now.

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The door flew open with a noisy sound and an angry Zira rushed into the room. Donk's initial surprise caused him to drop his guard and jaw. "What the f-" The angry girl yelled with fear and unintentionally launched her fist towards the unknown man. She successfully deformed Donk's face and caused him to trip and fall over the few steps of the engine room and let the hammer drop. The tool forcefully smashed against the ground and loud echoes plagued their ears.

Brought back to senses, Zira looked down at Donk and held her breath in surprise. "Oh shit! A-are you okay?" Mumbles and a muffled groan was all her ears could decipher. "Zira, stop it! Zir- ... oh. What? Who is that?" Suzumi was confused, but she rushed over to Donk and offered first aid. "Your nose is bleeding, let me help you." Shortly after Kenji and the others arrived as well and after a moment of introduction, they began interrogating the newly discovered 'owner of the tower'.

They went next door and Donk provided the group with a number of chairs. The room looked just like the one they were in as they entered the tower in the first place. "So ... Donk? Donk. What exactly is this tower for?" Donk took a large sip of an unknown brownish drink. The cup he held was decorated with a Ship's wheel, navy badges and pipes. It's handle resembled a pipe as well, even the smallest of bolts and screws were crafted with love and much detail.

"The Solaris' Pride. It's a project founded by Kataki, we were working on a way to reconstruct Arachne's towers she used to spread Asura's madness." Chaos lifted her eyebrow. "So you guys could spread madness yourself, yes?" DAHAHAHAHA DAHAHAHAHAHA! Donk laughed and shook his head. Suzumi looked at Damion, then at Kenji and eventually addressed Donk. "But weren't the towers confiscated?" The engineer ceased his laughter and his expression fell. Su felt awkward, did she ask the wrong question? "Yeah ..." Donk muttered. "But Exodus and Darkurai successfully destroyed them all before we could do anything about it."

"Wait, what? Two Kishins destroyed the towers ALTHOUGH those towers were spreading their madness in the first place?" Kenji's confusion reached physical shape as his entire face began to turn with it. Chaos and Zira also looked very puzzled. "Not quite. Arachne used another device to gather the emitted madness, then route it to the towers and eventually spread it, amplifying Asura's radiation. But we could have used it as a counter-measure against their own wavelength. We could have induced a neutral wavelength that would have levered the madness. But-"

Suddenly an explosion could be heard. Donk's steampunk cup began to dance and they all could feel the vibration from the blast. "What was that?" They ran towards a narrow orbital window and tried to squeeze their faces through it. "Can you see something?" "Zira move!" "No you!" "Damnit I can't see anything!" "Argh!" Another explosion became audible from kilometres away. Much to Donk's horror, the blast spawned from a massive explosion that caused half of the abandoned university to collapse.

"Oh hell! It's rampaging!" His dramatic look scared the group. "What is rampaging? Donk? What's going on?" "This isn't cool at all!" Damion took another look out of the small window and noticed how something large shifted through the smoke. Barely able to make out the outlines of it, Damion jumped back from the window. "Something really big is out there ... " He muttered before he fell on his behind, flabbergasted. "Big?" Suzumi slowly walked towards the window. "The Disturbati autumnale, obviously." answered Donk before Suzumi could reach the narrow vista.

"How can a damn plant become that big?" Damion's voice nearly broke. "It's not just a plant Kid. It was created by warlocks. Keepers of forgotten gods and wicked lore. They gave birth to a demon, not a plant." The engineer's voice was lucid and filled with anger as he clenched his fist. "We can't engage it in a fight now, we have to find Sinn!" Zira tried to reason herself and interrupted Kenji's speech before he would blabber out another sentence. "Don't be naive, Kenji. You know as much as we do. Sinn ... is no more. She's ... the Disturbati autumnale."

Donk smashed his cup against the wall, causing Damion and Suzumi to jerk up. "THEN WE WILL END HER MISERY! WE HAVE TO! I HAVE TO!" He yelled with all his vigor and the spit only expressly underlined his anger. "HOW? Their Meisters aren't even with them." replied Chaos. "We'll use the tower, but since the Disturbati autumnale has damaged it, I need you to find me specific tools." Donk's initial plan seemed simple. "You have to get to Desertascar and Fenascar." Kenji's eyes widened with surprise as he heard the two locations they should journey to. "Desert ... Swamps ... What kind of tools can one find in those places?"

"I'll show you, follow me." Waving his hand, the engineer stood up and entered the engine room once again. Within the confined space, Donk began to manipulate a screw on the floor. To their surprise, a duct surfaced and steps that led deeper into the tower's core. "A friend of mine awaits you at the bottom." All of a sudden, a small, mobile-phone like device began to ring in Donk's left breast pocket. As he took a look at it, a faint smile appeared on his face. "I think your friends already met the Disturbati, and now move!"

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**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Your decision.**

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"Already met the Disturbati? What are you talking about, they are still-" Kenji's eyes widened in horror. Zira began to frown and walked in circles. "They left our hideout and are on their way? Or actually, are already here? But how?" Donk's unfazed and more or less emotionless expression wasn't helping to solve the mystery. Eventually Suzumi had to step in. "Think about it. They are Meisters."

Kenji gazed at Suzumi for several minutes. No reaction. "They can use Soul Perception, silly!" Suzumi began to laugh the blatant situation off, but she soon realized that Kenji still did not understand the meaning of it. "Are you telling me you don't know the Soul Perception ability?" Her right eye began to twitch. "No … we weren't enrolled at Shibusen for that long. We barely managed a few weeks of classes with standard practice and a few lessons about Witchcraft and the basics of the soul."

"Su... all of us weren't enrolled long enough at Shibusen to actually have the basic knowledge of an average Shibusen student, regardless if Meister or Weapon." Zira sighed.

"I never attended at a Shibusen academy in the first place." muttered Organize as she waltzed past Donk and slowly crawled into the little duct. Donk began to laugh and was at the verge of tears when the group of youngsters threw angry gazes at him. "Splendid! Go on then, you have plenty to learn alongside your journey. Courage is all you need for it, adios!"

"Wha-?" Damion couldn't even throw the questions and words out of his throat when he noticed how the ground beneath them vanished. Donk triggered a mechanism, to their horror, and sent them all more or less flying through the tower core without warning. "That BASTARD!" yelled Kenji furiously as they fell past screws, pipes and massive engines.

Hot steam, dim lights and loud metallic noise were the last things Suzumi and the others noticed. "We're going to dieeeeeeeeee!" Zira's enraged cry-out echoed through the tower. "There! I can see the gro—MPFFF?" Damion had pointed at a floor but before they could actually decipher his exclaim, the group smashed and crashed into a pool.

Suzumi charged forth and straight into a kelp cluster. "WHAT THE HELL?" She jerked her head around in a rush, barely able to make a picture from the large and darkish room. Muffled sounds and splashing spawned from the rest of the group who were still trapped within the water weed. "Bakakakaka. Waterlogged."

The thundering voice brought Suzumi's fury to a halt. Damion was the second to successfully free himself from the wet trap. "Not cool. What is this? Wha... woah." The duo gazed at a shadowy mountain. A large shark fin posed at the top of the monstrosity, four elongated tentacles reached down from its chin and a massive, golden anchor replaced its right arm.

Seemingly enveloped by an aquatic layer, a blueish shine was emitted by the behemoth. Scales as hard as iron, the strength of multiple Death Scythes … He leaned forward and carefully eyed Suzumi, only a few inches separated the young weapon from the watery terror.

Slowly, Su's left hand vanished behind her back. As she assured herself that it didn't notice, she carefully transmuted her hand into a sophisticated halberd blade. "Don't even think about evoking his wrath. He's a few leagues ahead of us." Lucian's voice was clear and certain, unfazed from the presence of this beast. "What?" Damion hastily turned left and right but remained unable to locate the mage.

"BAKAKAKA. She be jammin!" The monster's voice forced the entire area to shake. Eventually Lucian, Nila, Starr and the remaining team stepped forth from the shadowy corners. "Draco!" Suzumi's heart skipped a beat. "DAMION~!" The addressed boy raised his eyebrow. "Miku?" Out of nowhere, Damion suddenly felt an incredible force that tackled him from his right flank. Madly cuddling and hugging her missed Weapon, Mikune pushed herself and Damion even deeper into the kelp field.

Kenji and Chaos finally freed themselves as well. Seeing the reunification, Kenji sighed and swallowed simultaneously. "NII-SAN!" Fortunately for him, Momo wasn't as energized and he was able to withstand her onslaught of sibling love. Quietly Nila stepped next to them and gave a faint smile, showing relief. "I MISSED YOU!" Chaos sighed. "You better keep your tears to yourself or we'll be drowning in it."

Zira also remained silent. She happily smiled at Rickter and slowly began to brush off the sea weed. "So … how did you get here? I hope in a more comfortable way than us." Kenji chuckled. His Meister groaned with distress. "We went after you when Rickter and Draco came running out of the basement like scared Barbies. Something about Sinn and that planty thingy. But something happened with the canyon. As if an earthquake had leveled the entire place."

Something happened with the canyon? Zira and Chaos swallowed and bot where on the verge of sweating nervously. "Well, that's unfortunate!" After half an hour of explanations about mysterious plants, universities and collapsing canyons, the group is rallied and ready. Lucian and the others couldn't venture through the now collapsed canyon, instead they were brought here by the monster itself. "So what's the catch?" Nila didn't hesitate and bluntly asked the behemoth who's name is Krohm.

"Since we immortals have no power left to turn the tides against Wreckoning, I'll be irie enough to help you out. You must a door. I'll give you wavey, but beware. Trouble no set like rain. You must a choose. Item from the sands first, or item from the sea?"

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**Obviously. Short chapter, but it's more about you Reviewers to decide.**

**Which island should they first explore? The dangerous desert or the sneaky swamp?**

**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Howls through the pipes.**

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The year is 2025. Most of the planet Earth lies in ruins. Mankind almost completely vanished from the surface. Insanity and Wreckoning have tainted cities and turned them into uninhabitable wastelands. Beyond their borders, some say, are dry wastelands and steaming jungles plagued with horrors that had adapted to this new world. Yet no one knows for sure what resides on the other side. The civilization slowly fades away. And the memories of humanity's former glory are slowly turning into myths.

Roughly twenty years ago had the first Wreckoning wavelength circumnavigated the world. Now the hazardous miasma is throbbing through the atmosphere. Roughly twenty years ago HE emerged from the deepest shade. Mankind relinquished its supremacy to more deserving beings. Entities of bottomless insanity and blind rage. Beings that are far better suited to rule this world and continue the legacy of evolution. A somewhat mutated evolution.

The age of man is over.

But the survivors refuse to give up. Their race, still so young compared to the preceding rulers of Earth, throws all its ignorance against the facts of their crumbling existence.

Scattered across the planet, some hide within vast bunker complexes, dales, metros, sanitation and artificial caverns.

It's a world without a tomorrow. Dreams, ideas, hope. All these things are long forgotten. Emotions and intellect have yielded to instincts. Survival. Of the fittest.

"Hmm..." Kenji still felt uncomfortable as the waves splashed past him. They were riding on the back of Krohm. The ancient immortal used its own body as a vessel to bring the entire group safe and sound across the tides. Nila and Kenji sat at the front and observed how Krohm chased across the sea with stunning velocity. Chaos had crawled into what would one call the middle of the platform. She also felt uncomfortable and already reached out for her blood chalice in hopes of finding relaxation by draining away redundant blood.

Draco had set up a small table with various dark cards of forgotten gods and outcast lore spread across it. Suzumi and Zira sat next to him and watched how the young disciple of shades mused in silence about the odds he discovered. Rickter and Damion were busy keeping Miku from jumping off Khorm's back since she wasn't quite willing to ride on this behemoth.

Nila's partner, Kenji, cleared his throat before he continued. "When we arrive at Desertascar, we just have to find that one item and you'll pick us up again?"

"Ya mon. It that easy." Krohm's deep thundering voice was, in respect of such discrepancy to his cheery mood, something unusual for an immortal. "There has to be a rub in it. GAHBAH~" Nila frowned as a fish slapped in her face.

"Oh yah. Desertascar is home now to another fella." Lucien who had remained silent ever since they've boarded Krohm's back had now found interest again but Khrohm's remark about 'another fella' stirred up his curiosity at last. "Another immortal?"

"Yah mon. A member of the Chronosphere clan." Momo's eyes suddenly widened in excitement. "Nila! Oh Nila! What's a Photonsphere?" The young weapon eagerly pulled at Nila's artificial dress and caused a few, loose ice-shards to fall off.

"Chronosphere." came the mutter. "Chroniclesphere." Chaos and Draco bit their tongues in unison. Bursting out in a laughter now would cause them to have an angry Momo channeling all her devious thoughts onto one notion. Murder.

"Sigh. Bother Kenji with that please." The Meister waved casually with her hand and pointed at her partner who had been looking at the grey sky. "Wait, what?"

"We almost be there. I see coast ya." Krohm cheered. The group was only a mile away from their new quest. A journey across the vast desert of a newborn island. Born though a fight between deities where insanity and savagery clashed with all their might, with all their glory, with all their hatred for each other.

"This place ... the atmosphere ..." Suzumi rubbed her arms as she looked over Draco's shoulder. The sun had been following them since early morning, but now, as they get closer to Desertascar, dark clouds and a strange tension within the air lay their weight onto their shoulders.

Lucian sighed. "Tainted by the bottomless despair of this world." Chaos nodded and calmly closed her eyes as her blood gracefully streamed into the chalice. "Tainted?" Momo looked at Lucian in awe. "The glorious time of hunting Pre-Kishins under Shinigami-sama's rule is over. The last Meisters and Weapons try to escape this hell. Medusa's rise with her Rikishin hive is just the tip of the iceberg ..."

"So." Nila bluntly cut into Lucian's exclaim. "How do you guys think we should start searching for this item. We lack a map, let alone a clue." Rickter raised his hand. "Donk said that if we want to use the tower to kill that Disturbati, which is already covering half of New M, we have to find a screw-wrench and an attachable leverage. Doesn't sound too hard."

"Doesn-. You gotta be- That's just bull-. GRRR! It's basically looking for a needle in the biggest haystack EVER!" Zira frowned. "Why don't you just twist the valve, Krohm?" Lucian stood up and looked at the coast of Desertascar that was coming closer ever since their discussion began. "Hoho. I tried. Now my arm has gone and me be stealing anchor for replacement. Ya see?"

The behemoth lifted it's arm and the group once again caught sight of the massive anchor that was pouched into the flesh of the immortal. "Awesome pressure. No use with vigor." Nila sighed. "It's no use." Krohm slowly decreased his velocity as the coast was only a few meters distant and slowly raised his gargantuan body upright.

"The valve blocks the steam that currently escapes into other pipes. As soon as we open that valve and Donk has the leverage to trigger a specific mechanism he mentioned, we are going to be able to use Solaris' Pride to purge that horror." Kenji smirked in triumph.

Lucian and the others jumped into the cool water and quickly found themselves on the dark sands of the coast. They were at the very south. "No map right?" Suzumi's hope didn't die just yet. "No. Obviously there was no time to draw a map for these two new islands. I'm certain that all the cartographers were busy surviving rather than drawing a bit more." Lucian's snide comment caused Suzumi to sigh.

"We'll search by spiraling this island. From the very edge to the very center of this damnation. The wrench or the leverage will show up eventually." Draco had finally raised his voice after he tossed multiple voodoo dolls attached to a thread behind his shoulders.

Lucian shook his head in denial alongside Kenji and Rickter. "That will take a year at the very least you cretin." Draco groaned. "Got a better idea Mister Depressed?" Damion and Mikune were ambling along the beach with Momo. They were too carefree to bother with such arguments.

"I be going then. If you have wrench or lever, give sign ya. Bai bai." And with that, the thundering immortal vanished between dark, powerful waves of cold water. The group hadn't made any progress but Krohm seemed certain of their success. Or was he just being desperate and hoped for the best?

A cool gust rushed through the new island visitors and the cold air surprised the group. They hadn't changed their clothing to better adapt to any weather swings, let alone had a meal. "Brrr... We'll have to look for some shelter." Chaos, having finished her daily ritual of blood relief, pointed at the cliffs. "We're being watched. I suggest getting started isn't a bad idea at all." Within a blink of an eye, the others launched their gaze at the addressed cliff but to no effect. Petty stones were crumbling and came crashing down.

Lucian took the lead. "Grab Damion and the others. We'll start with our spiral right here." Kenji slowly walked up to the tall Lucian and slowly sought out eye contact. "Do you think that some people actually live here?" The addressed warlock gave a faint grunt. "I don't know. But even if, living here or anywhere else won't make a difference. Hell is everywhere." The Demon Weapon shuddered at Lucian's grim remark.

The waves splashed onto the coast and crawled back into the vast sea, stones and sand were pushed forward and backwards whilst they slowly began to set their improvised plan in motion. "It's simple" Rickter began. "We will look for some tools and first distill some water." A good idea as the cold, salty water isn't a healthy choice, at all. "Then we'll travel from shadow to shadow and avoid the sun during daytime and with some self-made blankets we'll stay warm at night since I read that deserts get very, very cold when the sun had dropped."

Nila scratched her head. "A landscape that becomes oppressively hot and deathly cold? Why didn't we pick the other island then?" A slap raced across Nila's forehead. "Baka. We have to search for the other item here eventually, so I rather waste my energy on this forsaken land now instead of swimming in stinking swamps." Chaos hissed and withstood Nila's dire gaze.

"The weather isn't that bad right now anyway" added Zira. "Um... what tools do we require for the water by the way?" Draco turned and fruitlessly looked at the others. "Really now ..." his voice was drugged with irritation and annoyance. "A fire place, obviously. Some pot-like objects and something that can work as a caulker. Sigh. Rickter, Draco. You two happen to be the only cretins with common sense, follow me and we'll get things prepared. The rest of you can dwell here."

"Oooooh I just ... smack him... argh." Zira bombed along. She hastily turned her face so that Lucian couldn't look at her fierce expression. "Damion! Let's see who is better!" Momo picked up a stone and sent it flying towards the waves. One would say that stones dap best on dead water, but Momo's powerful thrust caused the stone to fly off with enough power to at least penetrate a wave. "Ha! You think you got a chance?"

Damion cleared his throat, picked up a stone and ... "Wait a minute..." "EEeeeek!" Momo yelped. "What, what? The hell...?" Chaos cocked her head to the side but she couldn't hold her jaw any longer. Nila's jaw dropped as well whilst Kenji jerked up. "Where is ... the water?" "The sea?" "Ocean?" The beach, the coast that felt so dark and depressing, cold and unwelcoming. The few plain rocks and stones, the cool waves and the uncomfortable atmosphere. Everything had disappeared and made room for a vast savannah that spread across the entire horizon.

* * *

"There, another one! Up there, the left pipe!" A spotlight had been ripped out of its retainer, furiously jerking like a hanged man, and spread its cutting light across the scenery. Sometime it selected a bowed frame, then it hid the figure again within the shade, yet again it blinded the yelling persons. Deceiving shadows danced on the walls with irritating velocity, their shape horribly warped and delusive, thus one could not differ between Rikishin or man.

This position was quite convenient since here two tunnels merged together. Shortly before Dais and Veijka had split Madagascar asunder, the local plumbing company had begun with repairs but they were never finished. They had fortified this pathway heavily in order to safely travel through these dark places, past the rusty pips and sewers, but today the beasts had something else in mind.

Three heavy-machine guns shrieked through the subway, a grenade detonated not far away from them and amid the turmoil someone cried for the medic. Even if one is armed to the teeth, toes and nose hairs all along, multiple waves of Rikishin happen to be a nigh unstoppable force.

The gunman on the far left kept shouting despite his dry throat. A vast shadow rushed towards him, but the shade soon warped into a behemoth and back into a rather humanoid frame. He gasped, reloaded and nearly dropped his clip. When the comforting noise of the released safety catch could be heard, the soldier raised his G36 and fired into the darkness. Deep grumbling was the response until the Rikishin finally revealed itself.

A hound-like creature with chitinous plates covering its head and entire back launched itself towards the man. The horse-sized Rikishin had elongated fangs and a long tail that ended in a scythe shaped stinger. It lacked visible eyes, but its lethal claws and teeth never missed their target nonetheless. "SCHEISSE! TÖTET DAS MISTVIECH! AAAARGH!" The massive fangs penetrated the soldier's bullet-proof west easily and as his gun smashed on the floor, he felt how his ribs yielded to the powerful teeth of the Rikishin.

"RENÉ! NEIN VERFLUCHT!" Another man shrieked with all his power into the direction of his mortally wounded friend. The Rikishin jerked its head up with enough power to tore his ribcage open. A crimson tide splashed across the brown pipes and dirtied ground. However, before the Rikishin could throw its tail at the man, a powerful slash from Momo's karambit form split the monster in two.

Nila and the others stood amid the turmoil and engaged the Rikishin with ice-cold precision. Within mere seconds the other four Rikishin were slain as well, but not before another two men had been killed. "Gottverdammt! Sie sind wieder bei Bewusstsein... Alles in Ordnung? Wer lebt noch? René? Deis? Kevin? Leute, Status!"

"Shit... what the hell is going on... why..." Zira transmuted back into her human form but unfortunately her clothes were soaked with purple, and crimson blood. "My head..." Suzumi sobbed and held her mouth shut after her eyes raced across the badly maimed corpses. The Meisters and Weapons swiftly gathered together, accompanied by confused whimpering, sobs, tears and headaches.

"René hat es erwischt... Mark und Falko sind ebenfalls tot." The remaining soldiers gathered not far away from them. "Dreckmist! Florian und Maxim haben es auch nicht geschafft..."

"Where are we ...?" Kenji reached for his forehead. "I'm getting tired of this constant 'where are we, who are you, why this and what there', you freaks better explain me RIGHT NOW what the effing hell is GOING OOON!" Thundering with tremendous power, Zira grabbed a soldier by his neck and forcefully choked him."Wir sind... oh.. eeh.. uh.. We-we. We found you, on the ... the beach, yes. We, we thought you were washed ashore so we, brought you, eh, carried here, we carried you. And we were going to our place, our hideout."

"Curses, we left Lucian, Rickter and Draco behind!" Nila facepalmed. "This is just getting better... and better."

* * *

**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: March towards death.**

* * *

"Endlich... vorbei." The seemingly endless onslaught of the Rikishin, which stampeded only a few minutes ago through the countless pipes of the subway, finally came to an end. The soldiers carefully checked themselves and their comrades for any injuries. "Los bringt Pit zum Sani, schnell. Es hat Ihn am Bein erwischt!"

The tallest of the men pulled out a large knife and equably stabbed every single Rikishin. The creatures lay spread throughout the subway, some dead and some grievously injured. When the last Rikishin squalled its last breath, the man cleaned his weapon with a dirtied towel that he kept in his pocket and slowly approached the group of teens.

"So." He began. "Who are you?" Zira frowned and finally let go of the man she had been choking for at least two minutes. "Shut up! Who are YOU and why are we HERE?" Anger and spit smashed against his sweaty face. "Right... If we hadn't brought you down here, you would probably be inside a kharnivean's stomach."

The girl's angry face turned into one of surprise. The two groups kept their distance from each other, wariness and chagrin throbbing through the stuffy air. Kenji gave a long sigh as he approached the tall soldier. "Where are we right now?" The addressed man looked down to the boy, in the back of his head still wondering how this young man managed to shapeshift into a lethal blade, and raised his eyebrow.

"We are within Toamasina's canalisation right now. We ... discovered all of you at the southern coast of Anderovanto and are currently heading towards Antalaha, turbulence included."

"What the flip? Where the hell are Mikune and Damion?" Suzumi flailed. "A second group of us went a different path with two of your group..." Raising her eyebrow, Chaos hadn't dropped her gaze off this man. "Why would you separate... seeing that you can barely withstand these ...things."

"They seemed to have some sort of allergy-like feature when in contact with a kharn's miasma. Our two best medics and a few guards travel via our best support line, with them." The soldier raised his hands and gave a faint smile in hopes of loosening the tense atmosphere. "This entire world is drowning in all kinds of miasma, what kind of bad breath does this kharn thing had to-" Nila was cut short by the soldier.

"A kharnivean is a being of Rikishin origin. We assume it's some sort of hybrid, a crossbreed or whatever. This, truly monstrous, creature bears little resemblance to any beast arisen in nature. It is the organic consequence of a malevolent intelligence bent on creating weapons. The kharnivean is a walking slaughter engine with a deadly payload. Its blighted explosions can rip through our infantry and the walls they hide behind. Once they close with the kharnivean, its heavy talons finish the job begun by its blighted breath. It exhausts a paralyzing gas with every step. And one of those beasts was watching you long enough for the gas to slowly take effect."

The man calmly explained, Nila choked, Kenji and Zira began to sweat, Momo smiled, Chaos chuckled and Suzumi shook her head in disbelief. "We didn't even sense its soul... nothing." "Sense its soul? Ah, oh. Yes of course. Now I understand how you even managed to fight back these Rikishin, and survive." Clapping his hands, the soldier looked back to his group.

"Jungs das sind Verbündete. Meister und Dämonenwaffen, alle samt." Whispering and sudden movement emerged from the remaining men. "Medusa's minions do not possess souls, that's why you could not sense the creature." The voice became louder as his face turned to gaze at Nila and the others again. "Ara ara..." Suzumi robbed her forehead. "I should have stayed behind with Starr and Strike. Waiting in the tower with Donk sounds more comfortable all along..."

* * *

The reinforcements from a nearby station arrived when the two groups were all resting on the lower pipes and rocks. A man with countless badges mounted onto his uniform walked amid the squad albeit limping and heavily breathing. "From where am I supposed to get a team together? Conjure them out of my soddin' hat! What, what. How many are left from the german squad? Seven?"

"What do you mean, Goda Konkowo." asked one of the remaining squad members that was revealed as a german hit-squad. "Siegfried wants to send a reconnaissance troop to investigate a nearby bunker complex. Beyond Parkultury. He's windy because of our ammunition dump being nearly depleted. But what troop? Out of all the times he comes up with dumb ideas..."

"Three days have passed. Three bloody days since we've sent them to our neighboring station and no response." The commander felt as if his men where talking behind his back and threw skeptical gazes at him. Even the most intense discussions ceased when he approached, when he got close, and with the tense silence that followed after he had passed, the commander believed he could sense their notion: Justify yourself, what happened with our men.

But all he did was his job. He cared for their safety and welfare of their station whilst guarding the remains of Desertascar's wastelands. He was a strategist but not a twisted tactician. And they were lacking manpower since weeks, how should he be able to cut off even more men and sent them on a mission that could possibly end in a disaster.

"You weak, pathetic humans." Lucian snorted with disgust. "Ever since we have arrived on this pathetic piece of surface you all have been tainting my mood. With Rickter and Draco gone there are no capable cretins left. These german, polian and madagascan soldiers aren't any better!"

"Lucian you pathetic, depressed little bastard!" Nila hissed at the mage. When their gazes met one could feel how their corrupted souls flashed and beamed at another. The insanity-tainted soul of Nila and Lucian's Sway of Magic collided in invisible sparks of tremendous power. Kenji and Momo, sharing a close bond with Nila, could feel how the atmosphere instantly intensified as the two souls clashed.

"Are you Shibusen or Kataki employees?" The soldier who had been talking toZira and the others introduced himself as Mikael. "Shibusen." Suzumi swiftly answered and waved her hands. By doing so she successfully caught the attention of most soldiers whilst Nila and Lucian were being pushed away from each other by Zira and Kenji respectively.

But before their chat, and row, could continue the ceiling itself began to quiver and dust fell down. With rocks shaking and Momo almost tripping, the men around the complaining commander began to panic. "Damnation!" Commander Goda Konkowo roared. "The kharnivean found us! ... Männer, schnappt eure Sachen und nichts wie nach Antalaha. Das ist ein Befehl!" Quickly taking lead alongside the glaring Nila and beaming Lucian, soldier Mikael proceeded to command his squad with german shouts and orders.

Hyped from the sudden hazard, Chaos launched herself forward and quickly caught up with Nila. "Do you feel it too?" she asked. The addressed Pre-Kishin slowly cocked her head. "What do you want Organize?" "The insanity. The madness. It feels as if we are swimming in it, its coursing throughout this entire tunnel." The group now moved as one with a swift walking pace and soon the quaking began to fade.

"Yes, over time we've lost more men because they have succumbed to madness than fighting off these twisted Rikishin beasts." Mikael joined the conversation after overhearing the words 'insanity' and 'madness'. "Veijka, the female Kishin who fought against Dais on this island. She tainted the surface with every bit of her cursed essence. And to this day the remains of her bottomless, utter lunacy pulsates with the wind." The two Pre-Kishins quickly found themselves in utter awe of the godlike powers of the female Afreet.

"I wonder..." Nila carefully began. "How it feels to be a deity of pure insanity." Chaos smirked faintly. "It's ecstasy." Slightly disgusted at the sudden change of niveau, Mikael turned his attention back to Kenji who appeared to be the most normal one of the Shibusen group. "So..." the soldier began whilst falling back to be side by side with the young man. "What is your mission?"

Kenji cleared his throat. "We were brought here from New M. We found a tower called Solaris' Pride and-" "WAS?" The sudden outburst, in german apropos, caused half of the entire running group to halt. "Err what?" The young Demon Weapon looked confused. Did he just say something he shouldn't have? Donk and Khohm never said to keep their discovery a secret, or the mission itself. ... or?

"A Solaris' Pride resides in New Madagascar? Incredible!" cheered Mikael. Even the grim commander Goda began to celebrate. "These towers were constructed by Kataki men in order to contain Dais' and the Kishin wavelengths. We thought the exemplar on Madagascar was destroyed when the island was torn asunder. But..." He raised his eyebrow. "Why are you here and not activating the tower?"

Suzumi laughed nervously and Zira frowned once again. "We can't. The guardian of the tower requires items. And-" "And you are here in order to find them? We will help you of course!" Their race throughout the subways soon slowed down to an average walking pace and when the group left the third merging point behind them, Mikael and Goda allowed their men to waltz and catch some air.

"So we finally found the Solaris' Pride. After sooo many yeeaaars! ... " Goda expanded his hands as if he tried to glomp the entire canalisation of Desertascar. Chaos and Lucian were at the front of the band closely followed by multiple soldiers, Kenji and Mikael. Nila and Momo were somewhere in the center of the mini-platoon. Zira and Suzumi were waltzing behind the now cheerful Goda and at the end were three madagascan veterans. They rotated with who would have to look back to ensure that no one, or better said no thing and nothing was following them.

"Why are you searching for this tower then?" Kenji promptly found a topic. "We were charged by Kataki's higher ups to ensure the completion of the tower located in Madagascar. But as fate decided, our forces were all ... well... quite literally... fan out. And since then we tried to re-locate the tower. Just think about it. The surface is a dried out no-man's-land, the only kind of intercourse possible is by foot beneath the sand. And yet those monsters managed to burrow deep enough to penetrate the walls and occasionally intercept support lines, caravans and in the worst case entire stations."

"Most of our devices and navigation systems failed, we lost contact to HQ, no intel, nothing. We were stranded, a jungle platoon in an island that turned into a vast desert wasteland." A soldier neared the chatting Mikael and Kenji with a grim expression on his face. "Hauptmann, es ist nicht die richtige Zeit, um hier zu sein. An der Station vor uns... da braut sich was zusammen. Die Männer werden zunehmend unsicher und skeptisch."

The addressed Mikael frowned. "Erm... ?" Kenji smiled stupidly. "We may have a problem at hands. The station before us...Parkultury. It has a bad reputation and brings ill luck to any who travel through. And my men have spawned seeds of fear and anxiety. But there's no way around, we will bring you to Antalaha!" Hauptmann Mikael raised his hands and whistled loudly. Gathered around Mikael and Goda were all soldiers except the Meisters and Weapons.

"What is it, why are we holding?" Nila's curiosity got the better of her. "Who cares... I need a break..." As she muttered Chaos pulled out her chalice and once again committed her blood act. "These peasants have fear of something that lies ahead of us." The annoyed mage did not deign to look at the assembled soldiers. Zira grasped her own shoulders and began rubbing her arms. "I got a bad feeling about this..." Suzumi nodded.

* * *

After a few minutes the group started moving again and Goda quickly joined the Shibusen group. No, not because of rogue mercenaries, thieves or even the Rikishin did the platoon came to a stop. The horror of a haunting beast called kharnivean lay behind them, but the sentiment of relief was miles away. The plain station Parkultury was notorious for being the ultimate destination for many subway travelers. Every poor man who accidentally arrived at a neighboring station tried to keep as much distance as possible between his soul and Parkultury. As if that would help.

As if that, which crawled and croaked out of the station's veil, was too lazy to take a few more steps and then choose a victim it fancied the most. Once you enter Parkultury, you were left alone with only your luck and whatever madness brought you here. Law and order are alien notions in this station. Sometimes caravans passed through without any harm or delay, as if it would just be another abandoned station shrouded in darkness because the lights had failed. But on the other hand, caravans barely emerged back to the light after they took a swandive into Parkultury's shadow and with only half of the original crew alive.

"There are stories from men who chronicled that the columns and pillars are drenched in dry blood and serrated, which leads to the assumption that some poor fellas tried to climb up in their final, dying moments." Gobsmacked, Zira slapped Mikael's forehead. "WHY ARE WE GOING TO THAT STATION THEN?" There is no other way...

* * *

**Yours faithfully,**

**Skadow**


	9. Bulletin

Hey guys, work is finally decreasing its pressure on me and I'm finally having more spare time. - I can continue properly writing all my stuff.  
I know I've tried to revivie few stories quite some times now, but life is life and I can't write if I'm not in the mood. If I write without the right mood I'm afraid I don't write good enough for you people to enjoy the story, that is if you still enjoy them anyway.

Regardless, just a little bulletin for you.

Yours faithfully,

Skadow 


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